Ends and Effects of Law: Full Development of Human Personality

1. Aristotle’s view

His solution was to strengthen the law, and make it the regulator of human conduct. He
proposes the adoption of a state constitution from where all other laws of the land will be
measured, and citizens will be forewarned of the legitimate and illegitimate courses of
action. This is to safeguard the society from accidental factors in governance such as
human whims, caprices and differences in personality of leaders.

Laws should aim to produce and preserve happiness for the political society. A rightly framed
law bids man to a life of complete virtue – good to oneself and neighbors. Obedience to a
good law is an exercise of complete virtue – called justice.

Man is social animal by nature, and actualize potential only within the matrix of society.
The goal of the state is to produce people who are good, as persons and citizens.

Man is a political animal, hence it is his nature to congregate in groups and act as groups.
The goal of the collective (aided by politics) is the same with the goal of the individual
(aided by ethics): achieve vitality, well-being and happiness.

2. Aquinas

He countered the objections that said that laws as such do not necessarily make good men.

a. Arguments holding that laws do not make a man good Arguments include that:

a) virtue and not law which makes man good;

b) goodness precedes law (good men follow the law because they are good, and bad men
violate the law by their being bad);

c) there are people who are good to the community but bad on those referring to
themselves; and

d) since some laws are tyrannical and abusive, their effects would be necessary harmful.

Aquinas’ reply:

Aquinas counters that:

a) every law's aim is to be obeyed by those to whom the law is addressed, and that the
proper effect of the law is to lead its subjects to their proper virtue. Since virtue make
men good, it follows that the proper effect of law is to make men good.
That b) goodness as such is not the only reason why people obey the law. Some obey for
the fear of consequences such as punishment;

c) since the individual is part of the whole, the goodness of the individual will be felt
proportionate to the common good; and

d) a tyrannical law is not true law, it is a perversion of law and one that is not accord with
reason.

VI. Ends and effects of law: Justice

A. Significance of Justice

Primary significance is its tendency to counteract the crude egoism of the individual.

B. Definitions of Justice

Aristotle: giving everyone his due. A rule of justice is natural that has the same validity
everywhere, it is conventional that in the first instance it may be settled in one way or
the other.

Encyclopedia Britannica: In philosophy, justice is the concept of a proper proportion between

a person's deserts and the good and bad things that befall or are allotted to him or her.

C. Justice of obedience to higher law

For Cicero, the obedience to the supreme or higher moral law, even if the process violates
human law, is to pay homage to true justice.

This is found in Antigone by Sophocles, when she chose to violate the lower law in not
allowing his brothers to be buried by being rebels, gave her brother a proper burial in
obedience to 'higher law' than the 'lower law of the land'.

D. Social Justice

The Supreme Court defined that social justice is neither communism nor despotism, nor
atomism, nor anarchy but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and
economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular
conception may at least be proximated.

Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of the people, the adoption of the
Government of measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the components of
society
A. What is wisdom

Wisdom has been considered as the pinnacle of human development.

With a) mature and integrated personality;

b) superior judgment in difficult life matters;

c) ability to cope up with the vicissitudes of life.

B. Plato’s view of law and wisdom

In his work, The Republic, considered a possibility of establishing a state in which law is
omitted, and society is ruled by the wisdom of a philosopher king. Law has limits and
human institutions – including law – must aim for wisdom.

In Statesman, law does not perfectly comprehend what is noblest and most just for aqqll,
therefore cannot enforce what's best.

Best thing of all is not that the law should rule, but a man should rule, supposing him to have
wisdom and royal power.

In Laws, law are opinions of the future – expectations. When expectation is fear – the
opinion is fear; if it is hope – pleasure. When these opinions and expectations are embodied in
a decree by the state, it is the Law.

The customized fit of the intelligence of a wise man is the best answer to the ills of society.

C. Law as Heuristic

Branch of logic dealing with discovery and finding out, method that provides assistance in
discovering a truth or solving a problem. It is a useful hypothesis that leads to a solution
that is more or less near to the best possible answer.

Law as heuristic means law is viewed as a rule of thumb, or general principle which is true in
most cases but neither accurate nor reliable in all cases